Download Natural Selection and Adaptation Homework

Geology 105 – Earth History
Name: __________________
Date: ___________________
Natural Selection and Adaptation Homework
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat01.html
Go to OAKS and download the three readings (For reading #1, DO NOT READ THE FULL ARTICLE, only the first 6 pages).
Print this assignment and answer the following questions, and be prepared to answer similar questions on the in-class
quiz next week.
1. Give a definition for evolution. __________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Give a definition for natural selection.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Can muscle mass gained from exercise be passed on to the next generation? IE, is this a heritable trait linked to
genetics? ____________
4. Is beak size in medium and small ground finches a heritable trait? _____________
5. What seed plant did all of the finches living on Daphne Major eat? _____________________
6. Which plant was only eaten during drought? ____________________
7. If there is a drought on Daphne Island (a La Niña year), what kind of birds would you expect to survive, and why?
______________________________________________________________________________
8. What if there is a flood on Daphne Island (an El Niño year)?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What is the scientific definition of a “theory”?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
10. Has the theory of evolution ever been scientifically unproven? ___________
11. Is a chimpanzee the direct ancestor of human beings? Why or why not?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
12. Give the definition of a species. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
13. Is genetic variation a random or non-random process? Explain. __________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
14. Is natural selection a random or non-random process? Explain. __________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
15. Do individuals evolve? ____
16. Do species evolve? _____
17. How long ago did the ancestor of Darwin’s finches (a blueblack grassquit) reach the Galapagos from South
America? _____________________
18. What makes Daphne Major a good place to study natural selection in the wild? _____________
______________________________________________________________________________
19. Does natural selection only take place slowly and gradually, over long periods of time?
______________________________________________________________________________
20. What factor besides beak size is affecting the evolution of Darwin’s finches? ________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________